Echoes of the Opera
by Good Lady Grace
Summary: It has been seventeen years since Christine Daae disappeared from the Opera. Now, a new voice echoes through the caves of the Opera House. Who is this new Angel of Music? Read to find out.
1. Prologue: Down We Go

I don't own Phantom**

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**Echoes of the Opera**

By Good Lady Grace

**Prologue**

**Down we go**

_Do once more the darkness of my black demise_

_Down we plunge to the prison of my mind_

_Down the path into darkness deep as HELL!_

Adelaide sat singing these words to herself while stitching up a hole in her gown. The needle flew in and out of the fabric as the words echoed off the cave walls. After a few more moments, she heard a creak, a thud, and a voice: "Mon enfant?" came the usual call. Adelaide leapt out of her chair and dashed to the entrance of the cave. Standing there, covered in a thin layer of dust, was the Phantom of the Opera. "Take these, enfant" he said to Adelaide. He revealed from his cloak a role of intricately designed fabric, a small box filled with jewelry, and a box with a ribbon around it. "What is this?" asked Adelaide when he handed her the box. The Phantom smiled warmly and winked at her.

After depositing the fabric and jewelry box, Adelaide undid the bow and opened the box. Inside was a beautiful, deep red gown lined with gold fabric. Adelaide gasped, replaced the lid of the box, set it down gently, and hugged the Phantom. "I had hoped you would like it le petite", he said warmly. "I love it!" squealed Adelaide.

"Thank you, Papa, thank you!".

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For those of you who don't speak French, le petite means 'little one' and mon enfant means 'my child'  
PHANTOM PHOREVER!  
Your obedient friend,  
Good Lady Grace 


	2. Family and Death

I am without the ownership of Phantom...I am incomplete ( cue dramatic music) FYI this is a sorta gory ch. (as always, gotta have one)**

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**Echoes of the Opera**

By Good Lady Grace

**Chapter 1**

**Family and Death**

Adelaide was born seventeen years ago on October 31st. Her father was The Phantom of the Opera aka Erik.

Her mother was Christine Daae.

Adelaide was a smart child. She learned magic tricks and the art of escape from her father. She had also inherited a combination of her parents' voices. Her voice was more beautiful than a choir of one thousand angels and Erik made sure it stayed that way. However, Adelaide had inherited something from her father. Her eyes, they were yellow with pupils that were slits like a cat's. However, everything else about the child was beautiful. She had her father's sleek, black hair and her mother's fair complexion. She was petite and slim, using these features for slinking about the rafters of the Opera Populaire with her father. It had been a wonderful life for the family, until Adelaide's tenth birthday.

She, Christine, and Erik had been simply doing their evening activities: Erik was playing the organ, Christine was sewing, and Adelaide was playing with her new doll. All of the sudden, Meg had come dashing in screaming: "CHRISTINE! ERIK! THEY'RE COMING BACK! THEY'RE COMING FOR YOU!". Christine looked wildly to Erik, "You killed another, didn't you". Erik hung his head. Christine's eyes narrowed in fury. "No, Mama, the mean man had found me!" said little Adelaide. "Papa saved me". Christine looked to Erik who nodded. "Then we must hurry", she said. Erik rose quickly from the organ. "Meg, take Adelaide with you" he said pushing his ten year old daughter toward Meg. "But Papa…" said Adelaide, not really knowing what was going on. "Go with Aunt Meg, le petite" said Christine, her voice steady. Adelaide nodded and grabbed Meg's hand. Meg ran out of the sanctuary and up the passage to Christine's old room. Erik grabbed a goblet and smashed one of the mirrors. It opened to reveal a passage way. "Go", he said pushing Christine toward it. "It will close after us, they will never follow". Christine nodded. The mob was very close now, they would enter the sanctuary soon. "Christine, we must go, please!", said Erik nervously. Christine was about to enter the passage when the mob burst in on the sanctuary. Erik made a move to pull Christine to the passage, but then something happened that Erik wished above all things he could change.

Christine pushed Erik into the passageway and stepped away from the passage. "NO!" shouted Erik as he fell to the ground, but the mirror sealed behind him. He saw his wife turning to face the approaching crowd, then nothing. He flung himself against the mirror, trying desperately to break through, but no use. Tears streaming down his face, he pressed his ear to the wall. He heard shouts, Christine's voice, a roar of rage, a scream, then silence. "No.." whispered Erik. "NO!". He used all of his strength to rip a slab of rock from the wall. It sliced open his hands and blood poured from the wounds. He threw it several times against the wall before the wall shattered. He ran through. His home was completely destroyed. Shreds of fabric littered the floor, the organ was dented, candles lay flattened on the ground and floating in the blackness on the lake, sheets of music lay ripped and mud covered on the cave floor. Lying in the center of all this destruction was Christine. She was white as snow, her hair fanned out about her like a dark halo. Her white dress was stained with red. There were bullet marks on her chest. Her mouth was opened wide in a silent scream that would echo through the eternity of time.

Sobs racked Erik's body as he fell to the ground beside his wife. "Christine…" he sobbed. "What have I done to you…what have I done?". Christine's blood soaked his cloak and stained his shirt as he held her body to his for one last time. Then, still sobbing, he lifted her up and carried her over to the sofa. Gently placing her down, he kissed her frozen mouth before crumbling down to the floor. He buried his face in his arms as his crying bounced off the walls and reverberated back to him like a requiem of his misery. He had lost everything. The woman he loved lay dead on the sofa next to him. She was his only love, the only one who could make his music soar. Without her, he was nothing. Without her, he was a failure. Without her, he was a monster.

He lifted his head to the ceiling, silently praying that he could just die and join his wife, die and forget about his pain. But there was something holding him back from this. What? What was left for him now?

After many moments it came to him. There was someone else he loved, someone else who could make his music soar. There was someone else who could make him something, someone else who could make him successful, someone else who could make him human. Someone who Christine had given him, someone who she had left to comfort him.

Adelaide, his daughter.

Wiping the tears from his eyes, he covered Christine with a sheet and walked as steadily as he could up the passage way. He entered the room that used to be his wife's. Inside, he found Meg clutching a trembling Adelaide. "Papa!" she squealed as she dashed to him. Erik scooped her up in his arms and held her tightly, tears streaming down his face again. "Papa…why are you crying", asked little Adelaide. "Why…why is their red on your shirt…Papa?". Silently, Erik motioned for Meg to follow him and carried his daughter back down to the ruined sanctuary. Meg's hand flew to her mouth as she saw the sanctuary. "Erik…" she said sadly. "That is nothing" stuttered Erik. He walked slowly over to the sofa and lifted the sheet off Christine. Meg screamed terribly and fell beside the body of her best friend. "No, Christine, no please God, no!" she shrieked, crying uncontrollably. Adelaide walked slowly over to the sofa. "Mama…?" she said softly, shaking her mother's body. "Mama?". Adelaide turned to face her father, small tears welling up in her eyes. "Papa, why isn't Mama answering?" asked the small, raven haired child. Erik knelt down and held Adelaide's shoulders. "Mama's gone now" he whispered. Adelaide, now understanding, threw herself at her mother's body. "Mama! Mama! Please, please Mama, wake up! Wake up!". Adelaide shook Christine's body. When she realized that her mother was really gone, she flung her small arms around her father's neck. "Oh, Papa…papa", she sobbed.

One week later, Erik, Meg, and Adelaide stood beside an old tombstone that read **Daae**. Next to it was a freshly dug one.

It read

CHRISTINE DAAE  
BELOVED WIFE, MOTHER, AND FRIEND  
MAY HER MUSIC LIVE ON

Adelaide wiped her small, yellow eyes and placed two bouquets of roses on the ground, one at her mother's grave, one at her grand fathers. Then she took her father's leather hand in one of her small ones, took Auntie Meg's slender, white hand in the other and the three of them turned away from the woman that had meant so much to them and walked to the dark foreboding doors of the Opera Populaire in silence

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I was almost in tears when I finished writing this. I didn't know I could be so depressing  
Phantom Phorever  
Your obedient phriend,  
Good Lady Grace 


	3. The Young Angel

**Echoes of the Opera**

By Good Lady Grace

**Chapter 2**

**The Young Angel**

Now Adelaide was seventeen and beautiful. She was about the age to be married and Erik knew she could have any man she wanted. He even encouraged her to leave him and settle down. But Adelaide refused. "Papa, who will take care of you if I am gone?" she said on one of these occasions. "No, you need me here so here is where I shall stay".

So life continued for the Phantom of the Opera and his young Angel of Music. They kept a low profile, not wanting to risk the anger of the people again. Adelaide was the only one to traversed the Opera Populaire in plain sight. If she kept her head low, she could go any where without suspicion. She often wandered about with Meg on theses occasions. Meg Giry had grown into a lovely young woman and married a wealthy man. Her husband had died four years after their marriage so Meg had returned to the Opera and taken her mother's old job of ballet teacher. She had brought her young son, Roger, with her and Roger and Adelaide soon became friends. Roger and Meg were the only ones who entered the sanctuary at all. They brought news and any needed goods with them. They offered company and comfort, happiness and hope that maybe, one day, Erik and Adelaide would be excepted in the world. It was this hope that lead The Phantom and his daughter through they're years without Christine. It was this hope that gave them strong spirits. It was this hope that bonded them together as father and daughter. However, hope is easily shattered.  
One day, Adelaide was returning from ballet lessons with Meg. She entered the sanctuary, but did not see her father any where. She frowned and walked quietly into her father's bed room, an action that was followed by a piercing scream. Erik was lying on the bed, his face white and cold, his eyes opened in terror. Adelaide stumbled over to him, tears streaming down her face. Clutched in her father's icy grip was a note bound in a red ribbon. Adelaide opened it with shaking hands

Dear Adelaide,  
Your father is not dead, no matter how much he may look it. He is cursed. It is a curse that will kill him in one week, unless you do all that I command. Do not try to find me, for these words that I write are my final on earth. Death is a small price to pay to rid the earth of that horrible monster you call father. A letter containing your next instructions shall come to you after you have completed a task, of which there are four. I suggest that you work quickly. Do give my regards to Marguerite Giry.  
Your obedient servant,  
Raoul de Chagny


	4. Madness

**Echoes of the Opera**

By Good Lady Grace

**Chapter Three**

**Madness**

Raoul finished writing out the note to the girl. He tied it in a red ribbon and handed it to one of his servants. The man bowed, leapt onto his horse, and took off for the Opera Populaire.

Raoul then opened the book. The faded writing told of a curse that would kill both victim and the victim's family. He smiled. It was a nice touch to rid him of that monster who had raped and killed his beloved Christine and its bastard child.

He spoke the incantation and spoke the four tasks that the child would have to complete. They were all tasks he knew she couldn't do, tasks that would risk the discovery of her father's continued existence, tasks that would hurt the child very much and if she was even one bit as selfish as her father, she would not complete them.

Raoul picked up the knife that had been waiting for him on his desk. He read through his will one last time and raised the knife over his throat to complete the curse. "For you, Little Lotte" he whispered.

The knife fell forward. Raoul's blood spilled onto the ancient tome before him. A thin trail of black mist slid out of it.

It raced out of the de Chagny manor, through the Paris air, into the Opera Populaire undetected, down to the cellars and into the heart of The Phantom of the Opera. Erik yelled in pain. He gasped once, only once, then fell down onto his bed. The messenger came forward out of the shadows and slipped the note from the Vicomte into the Phantom's hand.

Leaving the child to find this sight, the courier ran from The Sanctuary and back into the Opera Populaire, unnoticed.


	5. The First Task

**Echoes of the Opera**

By Good Lady Grace

I forgot to mention this in the last chapter. The whole thing about Erik raping and killing Christine and Erik and Adelaide being selfish is just was Foppy thinks. Just thought you'd wanna know. Still don't own Phantom.

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**Chapter Four**

**The First Task**

Roger Facet wandered through the Opera Populaire. Most of the people were already leaving or turning in for bed. He couldn't stand one more second with all the other stagehands drunk as they were.

He had just rounded a corner when he heard a voice. "Roger!" said the voice in a sharp whisper. Roger whipped around and saw Adelaide poking her head out from behind a statue. She motioned for him to follow her. He glanced up and down the hallway briefly before slipping into the passage way along with his friend.

When they entered the dim light of The Sanctuary, Roger spoke. "What is going on?" he asked, completely confused and somewhat worried. Adelaide and her father never came up for him and his mother unless they were in trouble. "Something…something bad has happened to Papa" said Adelaide. It was then that Roger noticed that his friend's eyes were red from crying. "What happened?" he asked, frightened now.

Slowly, Adelaide led Roger into her father's room. Roger took one look at the motionless figure on the bed and let out a strangled cry. "What the Devil…!" he began. "Hush!" said Adelaide. She handed Roger the note from Raoul. He read over it once and looked up, his face white. "He's mad!" he said finally finding his voice, "Completely out of his mind!". "I know" said Adelaide quietly, "but the fact remains that Papa will die in one week if I don't do as Raoul says".

Roger ran his fingers through his golden hair, flabbergasted. "I need your help, Roger" said Adelaide. Roger looked up. "I can't do this alone" she said, "I need you and your mother to help me". Roger nodded. "Of course will help you, Ange" he said, using his nickname for her. She smiled, but still a tear made its way down her face. "I…I don't want P-Papa to die" she sobbed suddenly. Roger put his arms around her. Adelaide cried for a very long time, but Roger just let her.

Finally, Adelaide straightened up and wiped her eyes. "You'd better go tell your mother" she said. Roger nodded and made his way out of The Sanctuary. "Roger!" Adelaide called. Roger turned to face her. "Merci" said Adelaide, smiling. Roger smiled back at her and left.

Meg did not take the news well. "That pig!" she shrieked in anger, "thinking that Erik had hurt Christine in anyway. Ha! If anyone's the monster, it's that bastard!". "Mother!" said Roger. Meg turned to face her son. "Mother, you're making enough noise to wake a deaf man" he said, smiling slightly, "if you're going to rant, keep your voice down". Meg frowned and turned back to the window. "I wonder what he's got in store for poor Adelaide" she said quietly.

As if in answer to the question, Adelaide came dashing into the room. "Meg! Roger!" she said breathlessly, looking frightened. "What?" they asked, worried. "I woke up with this note on my bed! It's the first task I have to complete!" said Adelaide, waving a piece of parchment in front of her friends. It read:

Dearest Adelaide,  
As promised, here is your first task. You are to watch the performance of _Miserere_ tomorrow from box five.  
Your ever obedient servant,  
Raoul de Chagny

Meg's face mirrored Adelaide's horrified expression. Roger was completely lost. "What is so bad about that?" he asked. "Oh, Roger, don't be so dense!" said Adelaide, raising her eyes to the heavens. "If I watch the performance from Box 5, it has to be reserved for me. For it to be reserved for me, I need to be important or…" she trailed off. "Send a note as her father" finished Meg quietly. Roger's eyes widened.

"It's preposterous!" said Adelaide angrily. "Adelaide, you must do it if you want to save your father" said Meg. "But if I do, they could find us!" said Adelaide, waving her arms frantically above her head. "The entrance to The Sanctuary isn't through the dressing room anymore. That's the only one they new of" said Meg firmly.  
"But…"  
"Do you want to save your father or not?" said Roger loudly.

That night, a note appeared on Andre's desk.

Gentlemen,  
It has been quite some time since I have written, has it not? I send my fondest greetings to both of you. I hear that you are performing _Miserere _tomorrow night. I am interested in how this performance will turn out with your new star, Isabel, although I must say she is no better then Carlotta. I shall watch the performance in Box 5. I trust you will show courtesy and leave it empty for me.  
I remain your obedient friend,  
O.G.

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More French. Ange means angel  
Your obedient phriend,  
Good Lady Grace 


	6. Box Five Masquerade

**Echoes of the Opera**

By Good Lady Grace

**Chapter Five**

**Box Five Masquerade**

"This is never going to work" said Adelaide exasperated. She slipped out of Andre's office and rejoined Roger in the hallway. They walked down it to return to the stage. "We do not really have any choice in the matter" sighed Roger, "it has to work". Adelaide looked incredulously at the eighteen year old next to her. "You make it sound simple!" she half yelled, "_you _are not the one risking your life!".

As soon as the words left her mouth, Adelaide wished she hadn't said them. Roger was risking his life, he and his mother had been for all the years they had helped the underground family. Roger glanced at her, slightly hurt, and picked up his pace a little. "I am sorry Roger, I did not think" said Adelaide, staring embarrassed at her ballet slippers, "I really am quite terrible". "Oh, yes" said Roger, teasingly, "I can barely put up with you". Adelaide smiled and they walked in silence for a while.

"But I still don't think it is going to work" said Adelaide with a sigh, "they will be expecting father and instead they will get a skinny little ballerina! Who will then be put in jail, might I add". "Well we cannot have that can we?" said Roger with a sly smile. "What are you getting at?" asked Adelaide suspiciously. "We shall have to make you look the part" said Roger, still smiling. "Oh come now!" said Adelaide shocked and annoyed, "what do you want me to do, dress up as father!"

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"I cannot believe I'm dressing up as father!" said Adelaide shocked at herself for the eighth time. "All you have to do" said Meg as she helped Adelaide into the shirt that had been padded to make her slender form look like that of a man's, "is sit there and be quiet.". "Then when it is over" said Roger from outside of the curtain where Adelaide was getting dressed, "make a run for it and we will meet you down here". Adelaide raised her eyes to the ceiling silently praying that she would not be caught.

When she was done dressing, Meg eyed her costume. "From close up, you won't be very convincing. However, from a distance you're the spitting image of your father". "Good" said Adelaide. She forced her knees to stop shaking as she slipped out of The Sanctuary and into the hallway.

It was the night of _Miserere_. It was a full house as the play was one of the favorites amongst the aristocrats. Andre and Firmin sat nervously in Box 3 glancing up and down the hallways behind them. They did not see the shadowy figure drop down from the ceiling, slink across the hall, enter Box 5 and close the curtain behind it. Adelaide readjusted her father's white mask. It took a lot of self control not to sneeze, for everything was covered in time earned dust.

Both the white mask and the opera clothes had been locked away in a chest after Christine died. Her father normally had worn a dark brown mask and street clothes. Adelaide had a hard time picturing her father as the menacing Phantom of the Opera. This was probably the effect he hoped for as everything about the Opera Populaire and his alias was a stinging reminder of Christine.

Adelaide was jerked from her thoughts by the opening number. She shook her head, adjusted the mask yet again as it threatened to slip off her face, and tried to regain her nerves. "Come on, Adelaide!" she thought to herself, "you are suppose to be The Phantom of the Opera! How would The Phantom act?". Adelaide searched her memory for stories she had heard people tell about the terrible Phantom. He was supposed to be a raving lunatic, but this didn't fit her father's actions.

She ran her fingers gently over the mask. It felt smooth and leathery beneath her fingers. Suddenly, the mask took a life of its own. Adelaide felt a cool calm fall over her. She sat back in her chair. She almost felt like laughing. Everyone and everything about her seemed so inferior. She was in charge of it all. The power swelled up inside of her and threatened to make her burst.

The managers, at that moment, looked over toward Box 5. Adelaide revealed the masked side of her face and made a mock bow to the managers. The looked as though they had glimpsed the Angel of Death himself. They whipped around to watch the performance, faces white. Adelaide chuckled to herself and relaxed. She enjoyed the performance immensely, even though that repulsive Isabel was the star. She rolled her eyes when her number came. She was easier to listen to then Carlotta, but was no less pompous.

At the end, Adelaide stood and clapped with everyone else while hidden mostly in the shadows. Once the curtain calls were finally done, she slipped through the curtains.

She turned to see three men blocking the hallway. They all lunged at her at once. She leapt out of the way at the last moment and took off at a run down the hall, a string of curses trailing after her.

Adelaide turned sharply to the right. She could hear the men still following her. She felt the dagger in her pocket. She would show them who tried to ambush the Pha…

"Have you gone mad!" interrupted a voice in her head, "you are NOT the Phantom! Stop being so foolish and get home". Just as suddenly as it had come on, the power and bravery that Adelaide had felt moments ago left her. She was terrified. "GET HOME!" screamed the voice in her head. Adelaide ran as fast as her costume would let her. She jumped behind a statue and pressed a stone in the wall. Part of the wall slid away to reveal a large stone slide appeared. Adelaide threw herself down in and it shut behind her.

Cold, moist air beat Adelaide's face as she slid down. She landed with a thump on the cave floor. She stood up with some difficulty. She was shaking with fright. She spoke quietly to the cave. "There you are Monsieur Vicomte" she said as bravely as she could, "task one complete". Adelaide pulled off her father's clothes and slipped into a plain blue dress with a white cord around the waist.

She had just wound her hair into a bun when she heard a loud thud and running feet. "ADELAIDE!" came Roger's frightened yell. He burst into The Sanctuary. Adelaide barely got a look at his panicking eyes before he rushed over and enveloped her in a huge hug that all but screamed how relieved he was. "Bonjour to you as well, Roger" said Adelaide, smiling and winding her arms around him. Roger didn't answer, but nestled his face in her hair and continued to hold her tightly. Adelaide felt her heart flutter.

Suddenly, as though aware of what he was doing, Roger let go of her. His face was only slightly red as he looked away for a moment. When he looked back, it wasn't the same Roger that had just clung to her as though she was a life preserver. Adelaide felt disappointed, but she was not sure why.

Roger smiled at her and took hold of her shoulders. "You, Mademoiselle" he said in his brotherly way, "are going to kill me with fright". "I try" said Adelaide, giving him a slightly forced smile.

As if on cue to relieve the slight tension between the two, Meg dashed into The Sanctuary. "Oh thank God!" she said, relieved. She threw her arms around Adelaide like a mother. "We were so worried when we heard they had tried to capture you" said Meg breathlessly.

She was about to add that she had never seen Roger run so fast, but stopped at the sight of her son's slightly red face and Adelaide's slightly disappointed one. Meg didn't feel the need to question the matter and remained quiet.

After Meg and Roger had left, Adelaide took her father's mask in her hands. It glowed ghostly in the light of the candles. She pulled a sheet off of one of the mirrors and placed the mask on her face. Even thought it was fitted to her father, the mask looked as though it was made for her. Adelaide felt the power inside of her again. She wondered if this was how her father had felt all those years ago.

Suddenly, the same voice in her head screamed, "TAKE OFF THE MASK!". Adelaide ripped the mask from her face and jammed it back into the trunk. Shaking her head and trying to calm her heart, she said goodnight to the motionless figure of her father and climbed into bed where she was met with uneasy sleep.


	7. The Second Task

Thank you to all my reviewers

DaaebyDay-Thank Antoinette. You can write awesome stuff too, you just don't admit it (darn you)  
onelastchance-I am so glad to see that you enjoy the story so much . I'm updating as fast as I can. Hope you keep reading  
phantomess08-Thank you for your wonderful praise! Reviews like yours and onelastchance's make me feel all fuzzy inside (did I just say that out loud...?)  
KrazywithaK-Roaine, I am going to go out on a limb and say that you were sugar high when you wrote this. You had me laughing for a while. And I for one would find being called a ham sandwhich quiet insulting so keep up with the good insults

Many thanks to all of you  
Your obedient phriend,  
Good Lady Grace  
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**Echoes of the Opera**

By Good Lady Grace

**Chapter Six**

**The Second Task**

Adelaide was dreaming.

She was running along the walkway that went around the dome of the theatre. She was panting. She stared at the beautifully painted wall in front of her and saw the door. She pulled out her knife, opened it and walked through a small circular room. Gazing around it momentarily, she heard the swish of the cloak and dashed out another door.

Now she was above the stage. She could see the dancers bellow her. She wiped the perspiration off her face as she looked around. She didn't see anyone. She turned to look back at the room. It was still empty. Turning back to the front, she found herself staring into those hellish yellow eyes. She saw the face hidden behind the white mask, the black cloak.

She was staring into the face of the Phantom of the Opera.

She let out a cry in a deep terrified voice and took off on another one of the bridges. The Phantom didn't follow her. She was about to run to one of the ladders when she saw him right across from her on a parallel bridge. Whichever way she moved, so did he. She took a chance and ran towards another bridge. She felt it rattle as he dashed after her.

She was coming to a gap in the bridge. She fell. She felt the feet walking up to her as she cried out in the deep voice and tried to get up. She felt the lasso close around her throat. She gasped and tugged at it, but the Phantom was to strong. The lasso tightened as he pulled harder and harder. As the world started to become cloudy before her, Adelaide reached up and pulled off the mask. She cried out again.

Staring back at her was not her father, but herself.

The Phantom Adelaide tied the other end of the lasso around the bridge. "Au revoir, Monsieur Buquet" said the Phantom Adelaide with a slight bow.

The Phantom pushed Buquet off the bridge and heard the screams from bellow.

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Adelaide sat up quickly. She was panting, her eyes were wide and she was sweating. She rubbed her hands frantically over her neck and face. She found neither the Punjab Lasso nor the mask. Adelaide half fell out of her bed and ran over to a mirror. Her white, sweaty face stared in horror back at her. She sighed with relief and laughed slightly to herself. "Only a dream, Adelaide, it was only a dream" she said, shuddering slightly. 

It was only then that Adelaide realized she was holding her hand at the level of her eye.

"Oh don't be so STUPID" yelled the voice in her head. Adelaide let her hand fall. She looked over toward her bed and saw the note bound in a red ribbon…

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"Roger, I need you to go find Adelaide" said Meg to her son. Ballet lessons had been going on for 15 minutes and still no sign of Adelaide. Roger nodded and left the stage. He trudged through the backstage area making his way around the many stage hands and seamstresses and scenery designers. He finally got into the deserted hallway where one of the five immediate entrances to The Sanctuary was. Yanking on a statue, he revealed the dust covered passageway and entered. 

"Adelaide!" he called once he was in The Sanctuary. He could hear her voice. She was yelling angrily. He walked into her father's room to see her pacing and ranting to her unconscious father. "This is ridiculous!" she yelled furiously, "he wants me to sing as Elisa in Hannibal! But that is not the half of it! To play Elisa, Isabel has to be out of the way. And the only way that Isabel will not play Elisa is if you, or rather me pretending to be you…".

"Get her out of the way" said Roger. Adelaide spun around and saw Roger standing in the doorway. She put her hand over her heart. "Must you!" she said, upset. Roger smiled and said, "You are late, Mademoiselle". "I do not think I am going to be able to dance today" said Adelaide falling back onto the bed. "Alright, but Mother is not going to like it" said Roger. He turned to go, changed his mind, and sat down on the bed next to his friend.

"You know you have to" he said. "I know I have to, but it is a questions of how" said Adelaide miserably. "Not only will I have to pretend to be father again, but if another chorus girl comes out suddenly and becomes the star of an opera, they will get ideas". Roger opened his mouth, closed it, then got up and left his friend alone to think.

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Isabel Breton, self proclaimed leading soprano, stepped out to the center of the stage dressed in a ridiculous looking gold dress. She readjusted her 5 pound hat and cleared her throat loudly. She took her position in the center of the stage as the music began. In her soprano voice, she pompously proclaimed 

_Think of me, think of me fondly when we've said good-bye  
Remember me, once in a while please promise me you'll try__When you find that once again you long to take your heart back and be free__  
If you ever find a moment stop a…_

Isabel never finished her sentence. At that moment, a huge faux gold statue came crashing down right in front of her. She screamed. The organ in the orchestra pit then took a life of it's own and began blaring the music that all had come to associate with the Phantom of the Opera. The ballet girls screamed wildly.

Madame Facet, the ballet teacher stared at the statue, the organ, and then to the rafters. She caught the eye of one of the stagehands, a tall, well built young man with golden hair and dark brown eyes, and nodded slightly. He nodded back and disappeared behind the crowd thronging around the dismayed diva.

Monsieurs Andre and Firmin soon arrived on the scene. Their attempts to calm Isabel were in vain. "I will not stand for these things!" screamed Isabel in rage. She readjusted her hat which was threatening to fall off her head before continuing, "Signora Giudicelli stood for such things and look where that got her! Right back to Italy she went! I tell you I will not be so easily consoled!" Finally surrendering to her hat and letting it fall off her head with a thud, Isabel Breton stormed off the stage and out of the Opera Populaire.

"WILL SOMEONE TELL ME!" yelled Firmin in rage, "WHAT THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA HAS AGAINST HANNIBAL!". "Firmin! Pull yourself together man, you are making a spectacle of yourself!" said Andre hurriedly. After watching taking several deep breathes, Firmin and Andre along with Monsieur Reyer began to work on the problem at hand. They were so absorbed in trying to think of a way to keep the show going that they did not see Roger Facet hand a letter sealed with a red skull seal to his mother, or see a raven haired ballerina appear from the shadows of the stage and join her peers silently.

"Monsieurs?" said Madame Marguerite Facet to the managers. "Yes, Madame Facet, what IS it!" asked Firmin annoyed. Meg glanced at him with slight distaste before continuing. "I have a message from the Opera Ghost" she said. The three men stared at her. "Madame Facet" said Andre suspiciously, "it is curious that it is always a Giry who brings us these letters". "My mother and I were not always the ones to find them, but anyone who does simply gave them to her and now gives me" said Meg innocently. "Alright, alright, I apologize, now what does it say?" said Andre quickly. Meg read the letter.

Gentlemen,

Forgive me for making such a scene, but if I was to hear even one more note from that woman I think I would have jumped from the roof. I do apologize if this causes some unrest, but I would like to see the understudy you have chosen. If you have not chosen one, I must question if you learned anything from our last encounter. Warmest regards to you all.

Your obedient friend,  
O.G. 

P.S. Firmin, I quite enjoy Hannibal, actually, but am disgusted by the repulsive pigeons you choose to cast for Elisa.

"We do not have an understudy…do we" said Andre quietly. "Mademoiselle Breton refused, Monsieur" said Meg. "Again" said Firmin furiously, "again that bastard makes us refund a full house! I do not believe this! This could stop productions for some time, Andre, if the press finds out". "What will we do?" asked Andre, panicking. "We must find a new lead" said Firmin. "Gentlemen" said Monsieur Reyer, "a lead soprano can not be found over night! It is impossible!".

"Adelaide Lebel could sing it, sir" said Meg casually. All the other ballet girls turned to look at Adelaide who had planted a very convincing look of shock on her face. "Not another chorus girl" moaned Andre. "Would you prefer to refund a full house?" asked Meg with a slight edge to her voice. "Well do not just stand there Mademoiselle!" said Firmin, "sing!". Adelaide walked to the front of the stage. She took several deep breaths and Monsieur Reyer began the music

_Think of me, think of me fondly when we've said good-bye__  
Remember me, once in a while please promise me you'll try__  
When you find that once again you long to take your heart back and be free__  
If you ever find a moment, stop and think of me_

Adelaide's angelic voice sang the words easily. Andre and Firmin looked at each other. "Here we go again" whispered Andre.


End file.
